BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20120311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20121104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20130310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20131103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120907T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120907T000000 DTSTAMP:20120907T040000Z CREATED:20120907T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120907T040000Z UID:4531-1346976000-1346976000@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA speaker- Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning was Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter \nToday we were brought up to date on the Riverhead project known as “EPCAL” http://www.townofriverheadny.gov/files/documents/Epcal.OFB.home.pdf \nThis Navel Weapons Reserve Plant had been leased to Grumman. It was turned over by the Navy to the Town of Riverhead at no cost when the Grumman Company no longer needed to test planes there. The property grant was supposed to create jobs to replace those jobs lost when defense collapsed. \nAccording to Walter “the potential is a billion dollars\, if it’s a dollar.” Walter thinks the sale of the property to Jan Burman for $17 million was a mistake. Since then numerous proposals have been made\, and some of them bordered on ludicrous\, including an indoor ski mountain. Yes\, I did say ski mountain. There are probably worse ideas\, but I’m not yet insane enough to imagine them. \nThe property suffers from the need of multiple layers of approvals to get anything done. Approvals from the Town\, County\, and I believe the state. A similar property in Massachusetts was offered-up to local jurisdiction. These obstacles were overcome when various interested parties cooperated. \nIn Riverhead there are people who are working on introducing an overall plan and making changes in zoning to facilitate the development of this valuable place. \nWhen municipalities have complex problems and many conflicting interests the remedy in the past has been to create an “authority.” However a good idea that may be\, the term authority has a negative ring to it. Instead Senator Lavalle and the town officials are trying to create legislation that makes it more like the structure of the Pine Barrens. Here are some features they have to work with. \nAir Strip \nThe plan at this time is quite comprehensive and the property has some very assets including an airstrip that will be preserved and used by aviation related businesses. The idea of moving airfreight at EPCAL has been roundly rejected years ago. And use as a general aviation airport will not happen either \nRail Link \nThere is a rail link into the property and with our more recent enthusiasm for rail freight; this becomes a very valuable feature. However it is not being considered as a secondary rail trans-load center as was built in Yaphank. The perceived value is a conduit for local business. \nMaglev Test Track \nThe inventors of the Maglev train have created a system that makes the Maglev compatible with conventional rail. There is a TIGER grant filed with the federal government. TIGER grants need an agreeable municipal partner to be funded and Riverhead has been on board for some time. The State of New York is considering lending support as well. The track is too short\, (2 miles) to demonstrate Maglev speed but what will be demonstrated is the ability to lift heavy loads and be more stable than any rail technology devised so far. Riverhead and the state do not need to come up with money they merely need to declare the idea as being useful to that municipality. \nErnie Fazio \n  URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-speaker-riverhead-supervisor-sean-walter/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120914T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120914T000000 DTSTAMP:20120914T040000Z CREATED:20120914T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120914T040000Z UID:4529-1347580800-1347580800@limba.net SUMMARY:Ed Romaine-GOP Candidate Brookhaven Supv DESCRIPTION:  \nOur speaker this morning was Ed Romaine. Mr. Romaine has been in county government as a legislator\, a 5 times elected County Clerk\, and in recent years he returned to the legislature. \n   \nWith the vacancy created when Brookhaven Town Supervisor resigned to lead Accelerate Long Island\, The GOP asked Mr. Romaine to run for the position\, and Ed accepted. \n   \nThe funding of government services was addressed by Romaine. The practice of one-time fixes such as selling off assets has no sustainability. The real sacrifices that must be made are difficult but needed. \n   \nWhen Mr. Lesko made his budget he made substantial cuts on items that he called "non-essential." Romaine disagrees with some of those service cuts that Lesko termed non-essential. \n   \nLooking at the revenue side there are landfill fees and mortgage taxes. Romaine wants to explore the possibility of using the methane gasses produced by the landfill. He is very much in favor of alternative energy produced by wind and solar and this could be part of that mix of energy production. \n   \n"It is difficult to tie together a region that is so spread out with public transportation" Brookhaven is physically the largest county in the country\, and the population is the second largest. That statement brought us to the topic of The Ronkonkoma Hub. By concentrating residential\, business and industrial components in close proximity to each other\, it is easier to serve that community with transportation\, power\, and sewers. \n   \nAs far as sewers are concerned there has been much trepidation by the county in building sewers due to the Southwest Sewer District scandal of the 70’s. Today where there are sewers they are isolated from each other and many by now are old and failing. Mr. Romaine thinks we should recreate a large-scale sewer district under a single management team. This way efficiency of scale can be achieved and quality standards can be applied. \n   \nThere are several goals that Romaine has in mind and they range from rail infrastructure to more emphasis on vocational training\, such as that provided by BOCES \n   \nBusiness can be given incentives by tax abatements\, IDA loans\, and allowing industrial density\, and Romaine said he would bring those incentives about. \n   \nDuring the Q&A portion I asked Dr. Matt Cordaro to comment on the experience he had as the president of Nashville Electric Nashville where they consolidated several layers of government into one more efficient body. According to Cordaro approvals for major work was facilitated by this structure of government \n   \nErnie Fazio \n  URL:https://limba.net/calendar/ed-romaine-gop-candidate-brookhaven-supv/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120921T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120921T000000 DTSTAMP:20120921T040000Z CREATED:20120921T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120921T040000Z UID:4530-1348185600-1348185600@limba.net SUMMARY:Paul Pontieri\, Mayor of Patchogue DESCRIPTION:Our speaker was Mayor Paul Pontieri of Patchogue \n  \n“I’m a mayor that likes to say yes\, when people approach me with ideas to develop the assets of the village.” That was the essence of this morning’s talk by Mayor Paul Pontieri of Patchogue. By being open to new ideas there has been much development in the village. \n  \nPatchogue is an old village with many business establishments dating back to the turn of the last century. The changing times left Patchogue with old derelict hotels when the railroad was extended east. There was a large textile mill on the west end of town that was abandoned years ago and was an eyesore. When Pontieri began his first term the vacancy rate of the retail establishments were about 35%. There was very little activity on the street. \n  \nPatchogue needed a sense of community\, a place where people want to be for entertainment\, dining and shopping. \n  \nWhat was needed according to the mayor was the rebuilding of a community. An old vaudeville theater in the heart of town had been used as a movie theater and was in poor condition. A suggestion to knock it down was rejected\, and instead it was fully restored into a state of the art theater for live performances. The theater is booked for shows about 200 nights per year and is profitable. \n  \nFortunately the village had previously built a sewer system that was geared to handle 800\,000 gallons per day. A capacity that allowed new structures and restoration of the village. The village still has a lot of excess capacity. \n  \nBy using funds that were made available through congressman Tim Bishop( about $1.5 million) and the then County executive Steve Levy (who happened to be in the room) the village moved forward on many fronts. Residential housing\, retail space\, the theater\, were all part of the grand vision that is now Patchogue. Rental dwellings are in short supply on Long Island\, and affordable rental property for residential use is essential for the housing of a young population. Now 50% of the housing in Patchogue is rental. I believe it is about 17% for the rest of Long Island. Paul told us that Suffolk County had about $15 million for use in the downtown areas. Patchogue got about half of it. Levy volunteered “ He got it because he asked.” Another contibution for lighting came from Caithness Power\, about $½ million. \n  \nDensity is not a problem\, it’s an asset. Density gives a village a pulse\, but it must be well planned and have the infrastructure to support it. \nWhen asked about the school taxes and the objections raised by school boards he told us that the added value gave the village the needed tax money to address the increased needs for services. \n  \nDuring the Q&A someone asked what advice he would give to other mayors\, Pontieri said spend the money quickly before it goes away and take a lot of pictures for the press with the person who helped you get it. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/paul-pontieri-mayor-of-patchogue/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120928T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120928T000000 DTSTAMP:20120928T040000Z CREATED:20120928T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120928T040000Z UID:4502-1348790400-1348790400@limba.net SUMMARY:David Calone “LI venture capitalist and Suff Cnty Plann Chr" DESCRIPTION:David Calone was our speaker this morning. Mr Calone has had extensive exposure on the workings of LIPA. He is also the chairman of the Suffolk Planning Commission. Today he was talking about infrastructure\, energy and also talking about venture capital \n  \nHe began by citing the cost of doing business on Long Island in terms of electric power and stated the power plants were grossly over assessed. Under the new contract with PSE&G there may be repowering of old plants. The way this would be done is that entirely new modern generating facilities would be built next to antiquated plants on locations that were already approved for power plants.  Upon completion of the new plants\, the old ones could be dismantled. Whatever we do new power sources must be built including wind generators and solar. \n  \nHe spoke of a 10 town agreement on solar. Getting that done was like herding cats. \nHe advocates for a professional certification process that is uniform throughout the bi-county area and can be completed on-line. This would help business expedite viable plans. \n  \nSewers are another hot topic with Calone and to build out the parts of Suffolk that can be built out practically. Calone suggests that a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) could be the vehicle to accomplish that. A TIF would create a tax that would provide for the building of sewers and the revenues from the new business and residents that they would accommodate would pay for it. Clustering of business and residential would create efficiencies and preserve open space. \n  \nInnovation and enterprise zones were discussed and Calone cited Boise Idaho as a place where venture capital flourishes. The reason that place attracts venture capital money is because there are many like minded people and they tend to be more adventures. That is to say- less risk averse. The mentality is that there will be failures\, but there will be home runs as well. \n  \nWe must create the environment. David used the term “economic gardening” helping established business flesh-out their plans for growth. “no worker left behind’ was another term I picked up this morning. \n  \nLong Island certainly has the wealth\, what we lack is the imagination and the culture that creates the symbiosis that is required to marry people of ideas with those that have the means to invest. \n  \nCalone seems intend in changing that culture. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/david-calone-li-venture-capitalist-and-suff-cnty-plann-chr/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR